


Goodbye

by MelyndaR



Series: Don't Fear the Fall [5]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22135909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: “I wanted to—” she blinked a few times, until her vision cleared of the tears threatening again. “Tell you goodbye.”
Relationships: Neelix & Naomi Wildman
Series: Don't Fear the Fall [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552054
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> This whole series began because of the idea that I wanted to write THIS one-shot: the proper goodbye between Naomi and Neelix that I feel the show deprived us of. But, for whatever reason, I really struggled with actually writing it, so I sat down this afternoon and finished it so that it wouldn't be sitting in my drafts, giving me writer's block to the point that I never went further with the series (because I have so many ideas for this series, tbh). That being said, hopefully this does justice to the scene I saw in my head, and the relationship between Naomi and Neelix, and I hope you enjoy it!

Usually, Naomi would have felt like she was getting a little too old to walk down the hall holding her mom's hand, but at the moment she didn't care. Her eyes were still glassy and red, she'd sniffed twice already coming from the turbolift, and her mom's strong hand around her own was immeasurably comforting. So, she held on as long as she could before slipping her hand out of her mom's grip at Neelix's door.

Her mom looked gently at her, asking, “Are you sure you don't want me to come too?”

Naomi nodded bravely, drawing in a deep breath and tucking her hands behind her back to stand at a parade rest.

“Okay.”

Naomi watched her mom get back in the turbolift before she turned to press the chime at Neelix’s door, trying to draw some courage from her stern stance, if nothing else. _It didn't work,_ she realized as soon as the door slid open and she saw Neelix.

“I’m in my bedroom,” Neelix called, and when Naomi stepped into the bedroom doorway and saw him, her nose began to itch with the desire to cry again. Neelix turned from his open suitcase to smile at her. “Naomi!”

So, Naomi did her best to smile back at him even though she knew the gesture was faltering. “Hi, Neelix.”

His usual bright smile dimmed as he got a better look at her, and when he opened his arms, she darted into the ready hug without a second thought. “Naomi?” he repeated, a question this time, an opportunity to say what was on her mind.

_ Don't go. _

The plea sprang readily to the tip of her tongue, but the courage that she’d felt none of a moment ago came then.

She'd seen Neelix with these Talaxians, she liked these people, these children, and they liked Neelix. In time, they would love him just as much as she did. It was a comforting thought as she looked up into his familiar face.

“I wanted to—” she blinked a few times, until her vision cleared of the tears threatening again. “Tell you goodbye in private.” She gave him another brave smile, this one more convincing – because for _Neelix_ she could do this. “So, I came to help you pack.”

“Well, thank you. I'd be glad for the help.” He was still regarding her carefully as he took a step back and asked, “Would you like to work on a separate suitcase, or do you want to tackle each case together?”

“Together,” she replied decisively.

“I thought so.” Neelix nodded as he glanced around the room. Looking for some way to make her useful, she was old enough to see that now, but as long as she was _with him_ , right now she didn't care about anything else. “Why don't you,” he decided after a moment. “Stand by the dresser and hand me my things, save me the steps, if you don't mind.”

Naomi moved to do is he asked, and they worked in silence for a second.

Then Neelix asked conversationally, “You’re old enough for flying lessons with Lieutenant Paris, aren't you?”

“Almost.” Naomi grinned as she handed Neelix a stack of shirts while admitting, “But we've already… snuck in a couple lessons.”

Neelix smiled softly back at her. Any other time, she suspected he would have berated her for fudging the rules; now he said carefully, “Good. That’s good – in a way. You know… Lieutenant Paris is very fond of you.”

_ Ah.  _ Now Naomi understood where this conversation was going. “I know,” she assured him, but her eyes still burned when she thought of how distracted he and Lieutenant Torres had rightfully become with the imminent arrival of their daughter.

Naomi wondered if he'd seen her thoughts on her face even though she didn't voice them because he continued, “And Mr. Tuvok and Ensign Kim are just as willing to help you however they can.”

Naomi smiled carefully, trying to take the encouragement that Neelix was trying to offer. “I know.”

“Did you know that Ensign Kim is the one who replicated your Flotter doll for you, when you were younger?”

“No,” Naomi blinked in surprise. “I didn't.”

“M-hm, he did. And I think it goes without saying that Seven of Nine adores you, right?”

Naomi nodded.

“And you've even gotten closer to Lieutenant Torres in the past few months?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re the captain's _assistant_!”

“Yes, but—” Naomi's bottom lip trembled, and she bit it until it stopped. “I figured out that you decided to go with the Talaxians after I told you that I didn't—that I was too busy for the bedtime stories that you’d told me when I was little. And I'm probably overthinking it, because I overthink almost everything, but, Neelix, I wasn't saying I don't have time for you! I was just saying that _that night_ —”

“Naomi.” Neelix put a hand on her shoulder, speaking levelly to her before she could really get on a roll. “I know. I do know that. My conversation with you, if it did anything, only pointed out…” Neelix narrowed his eyes, considering his next words before he continued slowly, “My… greatest desire.”

“Which is what?” Naomi asked suspiciously.

Neelix blinked, admitting, “A family of my own – _really_ my own, a mate and children, and to be surrounded by a community of my own species. It’s not… _your fault_ , Naomi. In fact, at the end of the day, it has less to do with you in this crew than you'd believe. It’s me, my fault, and the fact is they do need me more than the crew here does.” Seeing her expression changing, he took her hands and squeezed them, adding, “And that's _okay_. It’s a good thing. It means that the crew is learned how to _really_ support each other, and keep their own morale up, and _mostly_ how to cook some things for themselves. And it means, Naomi Wildman, that _you_ ,” here he ticked up an eyebrow and fixed her with one of those looks of his made her feel like more of an adult than she was. “Hard as it is to admit, are getting too old for children’s stories. You’re ready to move on to bigger and better things.

“Your mother told me an old human quote once, about children's stories: ‘the stories don't tell children that monsters exist, because children already know monsters exist, they tell children that the monsters can be beaten.’ And in your life on _Voyager_ , I'd like to think you've already learned that. So, maybe, hard as it is to admit, I've taught you what you needed to learn from me and my stories, and I know you're going to take that knowledge, and you're going to do great things with it. You’re going to learn, and keep growing, and slay all the monsters that come in your path, because when you set your mind to it, you're an unstoppable little girl, and you're going to be a great woman one day. I look forward to hearing all about it in the messages you send me, because we _will_ keep in contact. Okay?”

Naomi had been begun to cry again without even realizing it, but that was okay because Neelix was crying too, now. She nodded instead of speaking, and so did Neelix before he pulled her into a fierce hug.

“And you know,” he reminded her again. “That if you ever come upon a monster or a problem that is too big for you, anyone on this crew will help you: your mother, the captain, the entire bridge crew. Don't think that just because I'm leaving, you have no more friends aboard. You are surrounded by people who love you, and with or without me, Naomi Wildman, you are going to be fine. In fact, you're going to be fantastic, and you're going to make me _so_ proud. Do you believe me?”

Still not sure if she could speak, Naomi nodded with her face still half-buried in Neelix’s vest. “I’ll do my best,” she promised.

He leaned his head against hers, murmuring, “And that is more than enough to make me proud of you already. But I need you to remember one more thing for the rest of your life.”

Hearing the watery gravity in his tone, Naomi leaned back just enough to look him in the eyes again. “What?”

“I love you. No matter how far away I go, I will always be your godfather, and I will always love you.”

“And I will always love you, too, Neelix.”


End file.
